Grown up
by page12
Summary: Ally returns to Miami grown up and moved on from her past. However, this may come as a surprise to a certain blonde who is still living in his high school highlights. Since they never showed interest in one another in high school, the same applies for college...right?
1. Chapter 1

Grasping the idea of death was difficult.

No matter how many times you go through the entire science of it, the outcome still remains too complex to understand. How can a human being be there and then gone within seconds, especially someone who was so undeserving of it in the first place.

I'll never get it...but then again, I've never needed to.

Until now.

* * *

"So...how does it feel?" My dad asked with tension in his voice as we both make our way back home.

Honestly, Miami hasn't changed, it's still Miami. Palm trees are still there, the ocean remains and unfortunately so does my old high school. You'd think with all the hurricanes that hit florida, the school would've been at least faced _some_ damage.

But nope.

Hell still stands.

"It feels...hot." I respond, looking back out of the window. Which wasn't wrong, the temperature was like what? 90 degrees? I can already imagine my friends in New York complaining about how unbearable the sun's rays are and that I should rush back home before I die of heat stroke.

"That's not what I meant."

Well _obviously_ that's what I heard. My father needs to understand I'm not going to keep reading in between the lines, if you need to say something, then say it.

That thought process has become a new way of life for me. If you want it, take it. Want to do something? Do it and so forth.

I think the mindset worried my dad. Everything changed once New York was thought to be our permanent location, more specifically me. There was no more little door mat Ally, it was just Als. The girl that finally moved on from her past. The one who grew up. The one that decided to come back.

"I'm fine, if that was what you were insinuating." I smiled at him from the passenger seat. More than fine actually, ready to go to beach, start college and just not have to deal with shoveling snow anymore. Trust me when I say this, no matter how bad you think you want to see snow, it gets old, fast.

"It's just... college is a big step" he whispers.

"I think the question that should be asked is, are _you_ going to be okay?"

" _No_. I wish I can lock you in your room forever."

Well that's a bit of an aggressive approach.

* * *

We were here. Miami university.

All my life, college just seemed so far away. It was something I knew was there but still felt so unattainable. After the reality tv show that was high school,I felt that this past summer was to finally cleanse myself of everything that is Ally Dawson. I wanted every last bit of her gone.

Ironic how I still came back to the place I tried to forget, only to be able to prove myself to who? There is no one left in Miami that even remembers the name Ally Dawson. I just have this gut feeling this is my second chance at a life I actually want to remember. Even though it may seem crazy.

I pushed the button to unlock the door, but the thing had the nerve to lock again.

 _And again_.

 _And again_.

And ag-

"Dad stop it!"

He looked at me with a bewildered expression on his face. Letting out an award winning dramatic sigh my dad was known for,"Please don't go, I'll even pay you to stay home."

"Don't make this suck more than it has to." I didn't want to cry, I was begging my heart not to get all weird and emotional. I mean...I'm literally going out for dinner with him tonight, there is no need for tears. Plus I work at Sonic Boom with him.

"I'm going to get out now. There's this thing called class that's kinda important."I continued, slowing unlocking the door while holding my father's gaze.

"Love you Ally-gator."

"Love you and please don't call me that."

"You might've grown up but you're still my kid who knocked over the entire guitar stand." And with that he drove off, leaving me there cringing.

* * *

"So how's the college life?" Taylor squealed into the other half of the phone. I missed her voice a lot more than I thought I would.

"I've been here for 15 minutes, how should I know?"

Taylor groaned and complained about how I should be there in New York with or at least sneaked her here with me.

"Taylor…"

"Just think about us living together by Times Square while I finish up high school and you going to juilliard. We would be unstoppable and be like those cute friends on instagram." She argued. The plan on living together was going to happen, Tay is my best friend and I was trying to find a way to get her down here asap.

"Is this the reason why you called me?" We've had this 'moving in together' conversation about a billion times already.

"No...I just wanted to check up on you. Als, you never talked about life in Miami. You've avoided every subject on your old friends, cute boys and just high school in general."

She was right. I never said anything, because there was nothing to talk about. It was always a tricky subject to deal with. To be fair, I was very irrevelevant, but there were some moments that were worth saving.

Particularly my encounter with three different people. **(a/n I'm sure you can guess who)**

"Taylor...the last thing I want to do is dive into the mess of high school. Besides, all the people I used to talk to are most likely far from here. They never had a plan on sticking around."

It wasn't like I was close to them anyways. I never got along with them like I did with Taylor, they didn't understand me. Apart from that, I'm not the same girl I was two years ago.

"I hope you know that you're worth more than you could ever imagine. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise." Tay consoled. I could feel her energy radiating off her and all I wanted was to hug her again.

"Thanks love, I gotta go but I miss you." I sighed as the bell rang.

"Miss you most."

And with that I was alone again.

College did remind me of highschool and not because it was a place to learn.

It looked as if someone dumped the entire class of Marino High School into one place. There is more than 10 colleges in Florida, why did more than half my entire year decide to come here?!

I was sitting at the back of the class, ready to get the class with and check out the new apartment I got. All the professor did was ramble on and on how college is tougher, more strict and basically everything our high school teachers warned us about.

I should've skipped.

"Any questions?" He announced.

As if on cue the door bursts open, making me flinch involuntarily. The class goes completely silent as a familiar blonde walks in looking as ignorant as stated to roam my body as I felt my odd habit of hiccuping start to resurface. I tried to force them down but...

I failed.

Everyone's eyes turned to me, but I didn't care. The only eyes that bothered me were the hazeled one's belonging to Austin Monica Moon.

Someone kill me.

*hiccups*

* * *

 **Sorry this chapter was rushed and all over the place. Backgrounds of the characters is always pretty boring. As you can probably tell Ally's character has this idea she has fully developed as a person but she's lost who she was in the past. The story will reveal more about what happened during high school throughout the later chapters. Also excuse my** **capitalization, I'm not very fond of capital letters so if there is some mistakes, I apologize.**

 **Hope you enjoy.**


	2. Chapter 2

Our eyes stayed locked and I looked for any recognition in his hazel orbs.

Remember me.

Remember _me._

A look of confusion crossed his eyes and it didn't surprise me. There are moments that mean more to a person than they do to another. Austin had it all back in high school and telling by the way he grabbed everyone's attention, he still did.

Clearing my throat I broke the gaze, "Yeah...I have a question."

"What may that be Ms…" Mr. Campbell trialed off searching for a name.

"Dawson. Ally Dawson, and I just wanted you to go over the basics of the curriculum." The suggestion made him smile while the class filled with murmurs on the name that hadn't been mentioned in years.

My name...obviously.

It's funny how when people return changed it's like a shiny new penny. The thing is it's still a penny. Just without all the dirt. There's nothing more interesting about me since high school, just a couple more stories and a change in appearance.

Taylor always told me when all eyes were on you, act like I was on a reality TV show. Flip your hair back, look away and act as if there isn't a care in the world. Of course this is coming from the girl who slams into walls on a regular basis.

But I did it anyways.

Although the uttering of the name "Dawson…" didn't go unnoticed.

* * *

"Okay so who is he?" Taylor screeched through face time. I flinched, looking around for any witnesses, I was currently sitting at the park after a few of my classes and Taylor was being as loud as ever.

"What?"

"Don't give me that face Als. You look like you've just seen a ghost or something."

"Why does that automatically then apply to a boy?" Who am I kidding? Taylor could even tell which side I was sleeping last night. The dirty blonde knew all.

"Because you're you."

Thanks for the legitimate answer Taylor. I'm really not sure how she even get's these ideas, I mean I understand she wants to be a therapists and all-

"Psychiatrist. I want to be a psychiatrist."

"Stop doing that." Sam thing, I mean she's just good at reading faces. "Als...tell me about this boy!" Taylor exclaimed in frustration.

What was there to tell?

We weren't friends, ex lovers, hardly even acquaintances. I didn't bother to follow him on social media as the disinterest was returned from his side. We made it clear that we were just partners…

Anatomy partners that is...

Nothing more to it...

Nope…

...

Okay so _maybe_ there was a little more to the partner thing than I was leading on . We did surprisingly connect very well despite bickering and our interests were very similar. Austin was always a mystery to me and I was the same to him. There was constant desperate attempts to figure out one another without initiating some kind of friendship.

Why?

Because the blonde would never admit it but I saw the shame in his eyes when seen talking to me. I wasn't in the slightest way something pleasing to look at so the only thing going for me and him was my personality. Which was unheard of in high school. How could someone of such high class even consider socializing with the bottom of the food chain?

Me.

If you haven't figured that out.

He always did love studying at Sonic Boom with me though. Austin and I would hang out upstairs and mess with my dad's stuff without even saying words to one another. But it wasn't awkward.

Okay so it was kind of awkward at first but we improved.

I just liked having his presence there and he enjoyed playing around while we 'tried' to work on projects. Austin would even hum some melodies on the radio which would always get stuck in my head, leading to papers being thrown in order to make him shut up.

It never worked. The boy was stubborn.

But anyways, besides that there is nothing to tell.

 _Sort of_.

"ALLY DAWSON!" Taylor screamed, pulling me back into reality.

"Sorry, it was just my old science partner." The story itself felt so complicated that Tay would probably need me to repeat it 3 times. Which was not where I wanted this conversation to go. I still had to check out my newly furnished apartment.

"Oooo, tell me everything! Is he cute? Smart? Funny? Tall? Pretty eyes? Give me as much details of him as possible."

"I would Taylor but I have to go settle in but I'll text you later." I completely swerved around the question. I really didn't want to start thinking about his hazel eyes all over again.

Not in that way of course.

"But-"

"Okay love you bye." Hanging up quickly, there was now silence as I just realized even the janitors went home.

 _Oops._

* * *

"I hate you." I huffed as I continuously kicked the most impossible, stupidest, unreasonable thing that was my door.

Why do I always get stuck with vicious inanimate objects. Even in high school my locker hated me which Taylor said didn't make sense because every time she tried it, it opened. My reasoning still remained that evil object hated me.

I mean...The feeling was mutual.

The door was a pale green color with little chips of paint falling off of it, including new dents at the bottom from my shoe. And the apartment complex was pretty worn down with fades of white into a brown on the walls. It wasn't what you would describe as completely safe but I was a college student who worked part time at a music store, desperate was an understatement.

If only I had the strength or even somewhat of a capability to push the door open as the key was definitely not working.

Maybe a supernatural force?

Hey god, I've never done anything that wasn't in someway rational. Mind helping me out this once?

...

That's a no.

"Door jammed?" A voice questioned from behind me which hearing those words made me want to jump up and down from pure joy.

Thank you, thank you, _thank you_!

"Yeah I'm pretty sure the problem is me though." the response came out as a breathy laugh because of the effort I put into this stupid door. Keeping my back to him, I gave it one more swift kick at the bottom for good measure.

"After a while, you'll kind of get the hang of it." I heard the footsteps walk beside me, placing his hand on the door while pulling it forward. The man turned the key and _BAM_!

Why wasn't I born with a useful skillset? I mean memorizing the origins of instruments isn't impressive or useful whatsoever, not even the customers want to know who created the violin. Taylor used to think it was hilarious by trying to make me show off my skills at a party, she would start reciting the history of the cello at full volume whenever I talked to someone mildly attractive.

As you can see nothing ever happened with any of those boys. It did put my mind at ease by the fact I wasn't the one scaring them off.

"Thank you so much! I owe you one." I looked up to meet his eyes with a smile when to my full surprise I was greeted by familiar blonde hair and a flash of hazel.

"Dawson?" Austin questioned in pure astonishment. Nothing in me moved. I mean how could it? He was still as hot and tall and blonde and just...as Austin as ever.

And I was close to him, like really close.

Close enough to examine that his roots started to get darker and the small amount of hair that was starting to appear on his face. The crooked smile he always wore, where his white teeth matched the fitted shirt the blonde was showcasing with ripped jeans, converse and from what I could see, some superman socks.

This may sound a bit odd or creepy but he was examining me just as much. That of course was definitely something I was completely aware of.

For a moment I felt like little Ally who suddenly wanted to tear her eyes away and look at her feet. Who mumbled small words and phrases with no emotion. Who all of a sudden wanted to shrivel up and repress every memory of the pass.

And I hated it.

I hated how he made me feel like that girl again. I worked my ass off to become something completely different and with just a simple meaningless look it was all of a sudden thrown out the window...but I won't let that show again.

"Yeah, you're the kid from class today?" I lied. The thing is I couldn't lie for the life of me and Austin knew that very well.

"Mmhmm. Yep." The look on his face was pure amusement as I backed away into my new hiding place. A new safe zone. Austin stepped even closer and my heart clenched because now he was in _my_ new safe zone.

Well now what am I supposed to do?!

"I'd offer you something, but my apartment is kind of empty so…"

"Of course, if you need anything I'm right across the hall." Blondie smirked.

Why do I feel like I'm going to start to hyperventilate?

"Bye _Bambi_." And with that he was gone.

I'm screwed.

That egotistical, narcissistic, arrogant, obnoxious, blonde haired, stupid hazel eyed boy will honestly become the death of me.

And _I'm not okay with it._

* * *

 **I apologize that I have the incapability to write long chapters but I will improve I promise. This chapter was a bit all over the place because transitions into them meeting is always weird to write, but for some clarity onto this chapter, Bambi was an old nickname Ally was given by her classmates. I promise the plot will get interesting soon, I just suck at writing beginnings because once the characters make some sort of connection, that's when the real story starts.**

 **Hope you enjoyed.**

 **\- Del**


End file.
